10G-EPON uses exactly the same MAC as is used in 10G point-to-point. This MAC runs at exactly 10Gb/s, no matter what the actual data throughput. The PHY adds an overhead due to FEC, so the effective throughput
is lower. The data is throttled above MAC to make sure it does not overrun PHY capacity. But the MAC spits bits (idles if there is no data) out at exactly 10Gb/s. In other words, the data path in 10G-EPON runs at 10Gb/s.

Since the PAR scope is the upper bound and what the project is allowed to cover (as David clarified on the call), the existing scope limits us to only 25G and 100G MACs and nothing else.

If we don’t add 50G MAC, then we will have the MAC and the entire data path running at either 25Gb/s or 100Gb/s, no matter how many wavelengths are activated. This is what we try to avoid. We need to allow another
generation between 25G and 100G.

oGroup was asked to consider high level areas for which a lead would be identified to drive the contributions and decisions for that area. Examples are architecture, features, baseline, etc.

oThis would be different from creating ad hoc committees. While less formal than ad hocs, there would be improved organization with leads identified

oTask force members can contribute wherever they want – there are no restrictions.

·Miscellaneous

oScope of PAR: might need to add something to the scope to allow for rates between 25G and 100G, or something about degraded rates. Exceeding the scope by doing 50G, for example, when we’ve only mentioned
25G and 100G, could bring some “no” votes because it doesn’t match the scope.

oRisk: if we don’t change the scope, then we risk not getting approval in 2 years when we do sponsor ballot. If we do change the PAR, people might think it’s too big of a change and vote no. The commenting
process is used to make changes to the PAR all the time. We need to make sure we have a good story regarding these changes.

oGroup initially considered scope as a minimum, which allowed operation at 50 Gbps, but it turns out this is not the case. The scope places
upper bounds on the project.